By Lewis Bazley
InTheNews
April 3, 2010
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/uk/archbishop-of-canterbury-expresses-regret-over-criticism-of-catholics-$1368818.htm
UNITED KINGDOM -- The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed "deep sorrow and regret" after saying the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland had "lost all credibility" through its handling of recent child abuse revelations.
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who admitted his surprise at Dr Rowan Williams' comments, said the Archbishop of Canterbury had contacted him on Saturday stressing he did not intend to offend or criticise the Irish church.
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| Archbishop of Canterbury expresses regret over criticism of Catholics |
Catholic priests worldwide have been linked to decades of sexual abuse against children in recent weeks with Pope Benedict implicated through allegations against his conduct during investigations into reputed serial abuse by a priest at a Wisconsin children's home for the deaf in the 1960s.
Speaking to Radio 4, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams had said the scandal had caused a "colossal trauma" for Ireland in particular.
"I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it's quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now," he explained.
"And an institution so deeply bound into the life of a society suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility - that's not just a problem for the church, it is a problem for everybody in Ireland."
Dr Williams' remarks came after more controversy erupted when the Pope's personal preacher, Rev Raniero Cantalamessa, compared attacks on the Catholic church over the child sex abuse scandal to "the collective violence suffered by the Jews".
"The use of stereotypes and the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism," he quoted a letter from a Jewish friend as saying, at a Good Friday service in St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The Vatican distanced itself from Fr Cantalamessa's remarks but his sermon was printed in full on the front page of the Vatican's official newspaper, sparking fury from Jewish groups and representatives of child abuse.
A spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) said the remarks were "reckless and irresponsible".
"They're sitting in the papal palace, they're experiencing a little discomfort, and they're going to compare themselves to being rounded up or lined up and sent in cattle cars to Auschwitz?" said Peter Isely. "You cannot be serious."
Stephan Kramer, the secretary general of Germany's Central Council of Jews, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying Fr Cantalamessa's comments were "repulsive, obscene and most of all offensive towards all abuse victims as well as to all the victims of the Holocaust".
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